Replies

“I’m impressed by a couple things in your post.”

Good lets see your numbers. I’m just average Joe but you
seem to be way more informed than I am and can do a
more thorough analysis of the long term cost of a home.
As for rent, what is rent on a $240,000 home?

OK, so a $240,000 home to buy, you need 20% down in most cases, you have $192,000 left to finance. Some current rates are 3.99% APR. So for 30 years that (without including taxes or insurance) will run you $915.53 per month. That is buying it today, not 20 years ago. Increase the rate and the price of the house or decrease the down payment and that amount goes up. A landlord will have those same costs PLUS want to make enough extra to cover not only his costs but his taxes for the income he gets from the rental and profit.

I don't have any idea what a 240k home rents for since I am not in the rental market. My question to you would be why do you think the landlord doesn't have the same costs as a buyer? Ever since I've been in the market either renting or buying it has always been true that the rent I was paying was almost the same as what I would've paid for a mortgage. The issues that I first encountered some 40 years ago was obtaining the down payment. One thing that is different is that over time my payments went up as a renter, but once I had a mortgage (there were no adjustables when I bought) the payments were essentially stable with the changes only being in the cost of the insurance and/or taxes. But I never had any vary more than a hundred dollars over the life of the loan and when I added a couple dollars a month I paid them off earlier. So IF your premise is that there is a marginal difference between owning and renting I disagree. If I've misinterpreted your position, sorry.